This Month

The End of Campus Radio in Ontario?
The Ontario Government's Student Choice Initiative has the potential to devestate campus radio stations and many other student organizations across the province. By Alexandra Rimmington

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When you break it down, the elements of Frog Eyes aren't as bizarre as they
seem. The music here is fairly sane alterno-rock; the arrangements are
reasonably straight-forward, the songs fairly catchy, and the lyrics,
cryptic and bent though they may be, are rendered sensible by the laws of
poetics (read: they can make sense if you want them to). Yet add all the
elements together - most notably vocalist Carey Mercer's barely-contained
psychosis - and suddenly it's less alterno-rock and more scary-circus rock.
If you have a fear of clowns and wouldn't visit the big top on 'shrooms,
avoid Frog Eyes. Everyone else should dig in, though, and now; Frog Eyes
are a brilliantly bizarre band and no one here in Canada seems to know
they're our own (they hail from Victoria). It's difficult to explain how
Frog Eyes sound in words... the opening and closing tracks really do have a
circus quality to them, but combined with the kind of country feel audible
in recent Frank Black. Elsewhere the dynamic range heaves and sighs, hinting
at mid-period Bowie and Tom Waits, but never directly referencing them.
Rhythms are ever-so-slightly askew, but songs never break down into avant
madness. The madness is mostly in Mercer's voice. There is something
profoundly unsettling in his penchant for the F word, sung, as it is, with
his warbly falsetto; when he finishes the phrase "f**k you" with a breathy
"around," you're relieved that he wasn't talking about sex because it would
just be too unnerving. Yet Mercer - like the band he sings for - doesn't
sound like a raving lunatic. He's more like a tightly-wound kook, and
that's a compliment.

Features: August 2019

The End of Campus Radio in Ontario?
The Ontario Government's Student Choice Initiative has the potential to devestate campus radio stations and many other student organizations across the province. By Alexandra Rimmington

Features: July 2019

The End of Campus Radio in Ontario?
The Ontario Government's Student Choice Initiative has the potential to devestate campus radio stations and many other student organizations across the province. By Alexandra Rimmington

Features: June 2019

The End of Campus Radio in Ontario?
The Ontario Government's Student Choice Initiative has the potential to devestate campus radio stations and many other student organizations across the province. By Alexandra Rimmington

Follow our look back at 2018

The definitive list of the best records of 2018 - including electronic, hip hop, international, jazz, loud and folk roots & blues.

Best of 2018

Full Best of 2018 lists from Programmers and Contributors

Jazz Notes
Jim Dupuis, !earshot contributor and host of Jazz Notes on Kamloops' CFBX give you his Best of Jazz for 2018

Broken Glass
Myles Gregory, host of Broken Gass on CFBX Kamloops, brings you the best of Punk, Hardcore and other heavy sounds for 2018.

Bravery, Repetition & Noise
Mike Taggert, host of
Bravery, Repetition & Noise on CHSR Fredericton, brings you the best of garage rock, noise pop, shoegaze, freak-folk and more with an Atlantic Canadian sprin.

Something to Write Home About
Sean Warkentine, Music Director at CKXU in Lethbridge Alberta and host of Something to Write Home About on the best music of 2018.

Features: May 2019

The End of Campus Radio in Ontario?
The Ontario Government's Student Choice Initiative has the potential to devastate campus radio stations and many other student organizations across the province. By Alexandra Rimmington

Follow our look back at 2018

The definitive list of the best records of 2018 - including electronic, hip hop, international, jazz, loud and folk roots & blues.

Best of 2018

Full Best of 2018 lists from Programmers and Contributors

Jazz Notes
Jim Dupuis, !earshot contributor and host of Jazz Notes on Kamloops' CFBX give you his Best of Jazz for 2018

Broken Glass
Myles Gregory, host of Broken Gass on CFBX Kamloops, brings you the best of Punk, Hardcore and other heavy sounds for 2018.

Bravery, Repetition & Noise
Mike Taggert, host of
Bravery, Repetition & Noise on CHSR Fredericton, brings you the best of garage rock, noise pop, shoegaze, freak-folk and more with an Atlantic Canadian sprin.

Something to Write Home About
Sean Warkentine, Music Director at CKXU in Lethbridge Alberta and host of Something to Write Home About on the best music of 2018.